Maria's Return
by mythology1746
Summary: Maria, Jasper's creator, returns and is making another army of Newborns in the South. Post Breaking Dawn. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ BREAKING DAWN!
1. Chapter 1: Newborns

**Just to say, I do not own Twilight or any character in this story except for Jez. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Newborns

I stand there, my long and unruly maroon hair rippling in the harsh wind, on the cliff edge looking out at the amazing glass-like home. Squinting, I look in a window and see the family I wished to talk to, more specifically, the Doctor who I wish to help me.

Half a second later, I'm on the porch, knocking on the front door. The eldest of the "children" open the door. Edward Cullen looks me up and down, his amber eyes lingering on my scarlet ones for a second. I know he's reading my mind because I am reading his thoughts right back. Finally, he asks, cocking an eyebrow, "What can we do for you?" I quickly comb his many thoughts, finding out he means: _Why is this unknown vampire on our porch, and why can she read my mind? God, no, not her, anyone but this!_

Taking a deep breath, I quietly and calmly say, "I wish to speak to Dr. Carlisle Cullen; I am told this is his residency. Is that correct?" His face is impassive. He answers me after a moment, "It is. How did you find that out?" I smiled, "The Volturi told me him and his family resided in the forest on the outskirts of Forks, Washington." He opened his mouth to answer, but Carlisle swiftly comes over to the door, puts a hand on Edward's shoulder, and asks, "Edward, do we have a problem here?" Edward threw a pointed glance at me and a look of understanding appears on Carlisle's face; I tried to read their thoughts, but now I got nothing at all."Excuse us for a moment, Jez." Edward tells me. I'm unsurprised he knows my name, since he was inside my mind.

They close the door then open it seconds later, Edward looking slightly annoyed. Carlisle says, "Why don't you come in, Jez, it was?" I nodded and walked into the lavish home. Though he knows I would be perfectly comfortable standing, Carlisle gestures for me to sit down on a white reclining chair. I sit. "Now," Carlisle says calmly, "Edward tells me that you wish to speak with me." I clear my throat, "Yes, actually there is slight... problem." I hear Edward gasp and I think: _Don't give anything away! _and I see one of Alice's vision from a few weeks ago of this exact conversation and the topic. "Which of you is Jasper?" I ask, even though I know well that it is the blonde one standing next to Alice's chair. Jasper's body tightened and he said, "I am." I nodded and said, to him, "You know of Maria, correct?" He gave a stiff, curt nod so I continued, "She is doing just what Victoria did not long ago: creating an army of Newborns."

Everyone gasped but Renesmee, who looked just a bit confused. Carlisle stood, "Come to my study, I think we have much to discuss." I nod and stand as well. We walk up the stairs into a nicely furnished room filled with pictures and he closes the door behind us. Carlisle sits on one side of a desk and I sit on the other. "How did you learn of this, Jez?" He asks after a second of silence. "Though I live in England, I keep up with the news from all over the world, or at least areas where I know there to be vampires. There have been about ten killings in the Southern area of our kinds' residence, or 'the South' and I took the liberty of flying there. I met one of the Newborns and I recognized Maria's scent lingering on him. I spied on Maria and saw her make one, too."

A few minutes passed by in awkward silence. Then Bella knocked on the door, opened it and said, "Carlisle, the hospital wants to know if you can come in right now." Carlisle looked up at Bella. "Of course," he said then turned to me, "You are welcome to stay here if you wish to get your things. The only problem... the way you feed is..." I smiled, "I can adjust to any diet and/or hunting habits you have while I'm here. I'll run over to the hotel I was staying at and grab my things." Carlisle nodded at me and left the room.

I looked at Bella. She glared at me with a cold and angry expression. "You're Bella, right? I'm Jez." I couldn't read her mind, but I already learned from the others that she was ashield. I walked away after it seemed apparent she was not going to say anything to me. I ran into the nice living room, muttered something about going to gather my things, and then went to the hotel, gathered my things, and ran back to the Cullen's home in about ten minutes.

**So, what do you think. Please review, I'd really like to know your opinions!**


	2. Chapter 2: Fitting In

Chapter 2: Fitting In

I had taken the only room on the third floor, what I learned to be Edward's old room. I think he got mad at me for that. It's been a day and the entire family is going hunting; I decided to join them. I put on a pair of tight, black skinny jeans and a black top with a silver jacket (it's the middle of winter) and a pair of black leather hiking boots. I look in the mirror and then run downstairs and Carlisle says, "So not to attract attention, we generally split into groups to hunt so as not to attract too much attention. Why don't you come with Esme and me? We still have much to discuss about the, ah, Newborns" I nod and all the Cullens walk out the back door. As we start to run, the large group is broken up into four smaller groups: Edward, Bella and Renesmee; Jasper and Alice; Rosalie and Emmet; and Carlisle, Esme, and me.

We run deep into the forest and then slow to a walk. Carlisle says, "Now, do you know what Maria intends to do with these Newborns?" I start the story, "Well, I have the ability to read and change thoughts and actions. For example, if there was a vampire intending to make a new vampire, I could go in and change that intention. Maria, however, can detect and trace when her thoughts and emotions are being tampered with, so I left it at mind reading. The only thing, her intentions are to seek out as many of her old 'friends' and have them join her. She is prepared to track them all down with the new tracker she just created; one of those being Jasper. I have looked into Alice's mind and seen all the scattered visions of Maria and this plan, some of the visions end in disaster for Maria, but others end in her succeeding the Volturi."

Esme gasped and Carlisle looked, for the first time in any memory I've seen, completely dumb-founded. He regained his calm manner and then said, "That situation, the Volturi being succeeded, is quite, quite unlikely." I rolled my eyes to myself, "I looked though her thoughts and saw that she had about sixteen vampires she planned to track and have help her, some with such skill that could beat even the Volturi's. For example, one by the name of Alicia can disable up to ten different people's abilities at a time. Another by the name of Jorge can freeze anyone where they stand, mentally of course, for one minute without concentrating on that person for too long." Esme looked scandalized; I continued on, "The first thing she intends to do once she has completed the army of Newborns is to re-recruit Jasper because she feels that he can help persuade others into joining her."

We stood there, Carlisle and Esme deep in thought, me reading their thoughts, for about three minutes until Bella came up to us and said, "The rest of us have finished hunting and want to know if we can go home." She glanced at my still-scarlet eyes and Esme and Carlisle's still-black eyes. Carlisle told her, "Oh, well, we have a slight problem." Bella started to get a really concentrated look on her face and suddenly, I could read her thoughts calling out to Edward. He was here in half a second later. "What's wrong?" He asked us with a maniac expression on his face. I thought of what I told Carlisle and he gasped. "Go hunt," I told Carlisle and Esme, "I am fine; I just fed two days ago in Sacramento so I should be ok for at least a week." Bella glared at me again and then grabbed Edwards hand and dragged him away with her. God, what's her big problem with me?

On the way back, Edward walks over to me and says, "Don't worry about Bella, she's just a little annoyed. I might have helped that. You saw the vision Alice had about you. Only Alice, Carlisle, Bella and I knew about it and we were trying to prevent it, but the vision was just about carved into stone. She hates the idea of someone being _bad_ enough to take the Volturi" He nods to me then runs over to Bella's side.

In the house, we sit in the living room and discuss our options about the chances of Maria _letting_ Jasper _not_ join her. Suddenly, a _degusting_ wet dog smell overtakes the living room. I slowly turn around. Three people are standing in the doorway: two boys and a girl. One of these boys, the one standing in the middle was looking to Renesmee, a look of longing in his face. He _Imprinted_ on her! The boy standing next to him had a playful kind of look. The girl on the other side had a sneer and a look of disgust on her face. I automatically get into a protective, hunting stance, ready to fight these gross _dogs_ at any second, not even noticing Carlisle and Esme coming in the back door.

**So, what do you think of the complications with Bella and Jez? Do you think they should continue to not get along or become really good friends?**


	3. Chapter 3: Imprint

Chapter 3: Imprint

Edward sees my intents and grabs me around the waist, and thinks about all the times the _wolves_ had helped them. I straiten my pose into a rigid stance and Seth, the one with the playful kind of look, turned his head to me and then just stares. I take a peep into his mind. I think: _Oh shit! He just freaking imprinted on me. A. Werewolf. Imprinted. On. Me._ I stare at him, giving him a warning look. Edward suddenly thinks: _Jez, calm down._ I think back: _Get this stupid, idiotic, moronic _dog_ out of the house. Jacob and Leah can stay but Seth has to go. Now. Kick him out before I hurt him._ Edward pulls out of my mind, knowing I'm serious. "Jacob may my friend and I talk to you privately?" He asks. Jacob nods, confused, and we walk out side and run about a three miles west.

Once we reach our destination, Edward tells Jacob, "Seth just imprinted on Jez." Jacob gasps loudly and says, "Is that even possible!? I mean, she's a vampire!!" Edward shrugs, "You imprinted on Renesmee and she's a half-vampire." Jacob says "Why did we come all the way out here for you to tell me this?" Edward takes a deep sigh. "For one thing," He says as calmly as possible, "Jez can read your mind too; we'll go in depth about that later. For another, she wants Seth to leave while we discuss tactics. She can change minds as well, but she cannot interfere with this. You have to make him leave; you and Leah can stay as well as the rest of the wolves." Jacob stares at me, thinking: _No. I cannot make him leave. Not now that he's... you know... imprinted on you. I'm sorry._ I start to yell, "If you don't make hi _go away_ while I am staying at the Cullens' house than I will end up hurting him. I can't help it. And that isn't a threat, it is a sure blown _promise_, Jacob Black." And I turn and run back to the house.

Once there, I run into the living room and collapse onto the couch. Seth is still staring at me and wondering why I haven't said a word to him yet. Jacob and Edward come into the room and Jacob says, to Seth, "Seth, you have to leave. I'm sorry. But you have to leave; go back to La Push and we'll see you there." Seth glares at him, "But, I-I- I-" Jacob cuts him off, "I know what you did and that's the exact reason you have to leave." Rosalie stands and asks, "What exactly did Seth do that you want him to leave? I'm sure we all want to know!" Everyone nods. Seth opens his mouth awkwardly but I stand in a lightning movement and say, in anger, "The filthy _dog_ just Imprinted on me!"

My answer is met by silence. Leah finally says, struggling not to laugh, "Way to go little bro! You finally Imprint and you don't even have to explain your secrets!" I glare at her, "Look, I know you don't want your baby brother hurt, Leah, so convince him to leave before his thoughts make me lose control." Seth starts yelling, his voice a mix between anger and hurt, "If you can read my thoughts, than you should know damn well that that is nearly impossible!" His face melts into a puppy dog begging face. Carlisle seems to sense an argument approaching and so he orders, calmly, "Seth, I'm sorry but you must leave. If you stay, something will go wrong. If there is a fight, of course you will be welcome to stand beside us in battle. I'm sure Jacob and Leah will inform you of the conversation." Seth looks about to argue but Jacob cuts in and he says, "Seth, go. That is an order from the Alpha. Go pack to La Push."

Seth started shaking. A second later a huge wolf emerged. Jacob phased in a flying run and pushed him outside. I followed them, Carlisle, Esme, and Emmet on my tail. I listen to the mental conversation; Seth keeps thinking about the ancient laws of Imprinting; Jacob keeps thinking of the destruction I could cause him. I step in between the two and, holding my arms out, and say, "Stop it! Jacob, Seth, stop being stupid! Seth, I don't care what you do or say, I will never fall for you. Yes, I know it's unheard of " I answer Jacob's thought" but I will be the first to achieve it, thank you. Now Seth, you can go away quietly without more of a fuss or I can throw you all the way to Canada. Are we clear?" Seth lets out a whimper and a small nod and then turned and ran away. I smiled and turned to Jacob. "You can phase back oh. Right. Nudity can be uncomfortable for you, right? Oh well. Emmet, Carlisle, please get Jacob some clothes so he may change back and then we can discuss the growing problem in the dining room. Now, if you'd please." Carlisle was astounded that I was giving him orders in his own home but he was tactful enough to follow my instructions.

**So, now what do you think of Jez, since you've seen the bossy and mean side?**


	4. Chapter 4: She's Coming

**Please, read this chapter and tell me how to end it!**

Chapter 4: She's Coming

"NO! I will _not_ rejoin Maria! You would have to kill me first. Honestly, she was absolutely horrible. All the Southerners are." Jasper exclaimed after I told him Maria's plan about the Newborns. "Well, the other option is you fight her. And by fight, I mean fight to the _death_. A real, one-on-one old-fashioned duel. Trust me, it's the only way to win freedom. You owe her service because she granted you immortality. I have researched and you owe your services to your creator unless they are killed, then you owe services to them; if you kill them, then you are free. The only exception is if someone kills unfairly, meaning a non-one-on-one." Jasper's eyes widened. "Alice," he barked, "what are the outcomes of anything Maria is planning to do after she gets all of the people she wants?" Alice gulped loudly. "Well," she answered, "one vision shows everyone she made or gathered turn on her and destroy her; a different one shows everyone even you Jazz working in perfect harmony and overthrowing the Volturi with little effort; the last shows her overthrowing the Volturi with a large amount of struggle and then losing control as her last stand. And Jazz, you know that means that they'd pressure you into joining the Guard."

Everyone was in silence. Finally, Jasper whispered, "Alice, you seem to have already had the visions; how long ago did you first see them and why didn't you tell me about them." Alice looked completely embarrassed as she said, "Well, it was a few weeks ago when everyone was out hunting except for Carlisle, Edward, Bella and me. Bella and Edward were in the cottage but the moment my vision started, Carlisle got worried because apparently my face was 'contorted in agony' from the vision. Edward and Bella were here instantly after that. The visions started with the one of the conversation we had yesterday. We all agreed to not tell you because I kept hoping it wouldn't happen, you know, my subjective visions? But each of the visions kept getting more and more, you could say, deeply carved into stone that it seemed impossible. Then Jez shows up on the doorstep and we start that conversation and then we're at this point! I'm sorry, Jazz, please forgive me." She was earnest, I could tell without even looking at her thoughts.

I stand, trying to avoid tension, and say, "The other option is to involve the Volturi, but we really don't want that, do we?" They all simultaneously answer no and so I say, "This is what I think we should do: we fly to South America and stop her before she can try and stop her before anyone gets recruited or the Volturi get involved. Oh and Jacob," I turn to him, "keep that filthy Seth kid _away from me_." Jacob looks at me and says, "I'm not sure how well that would go. You can see, in my mind, about all the cases where we have imprinted on others. Trying to keep us away from who we Imprinted on is pretty much the same as trying to keep a vampire who hasn't fed for weeks locked up. Not possible." I narrow my eyes, "Well, you might want to tell him this: if he comes anywhere near me, I promise that he will come out of that fight dead." He wanted to fight more, I could tell, but Edward quickly interupted. "Alice, how much time do we have before she comes here?" Her answer was silent and full of fear. _She's already on her way._ Carlisle saw the alarm on Edward's and my face and Edward said, "A few hours, at best."


	5. Chapter 5: Fight

**Hello people of ! I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but I've been really really busy. If you want to know with what, here it goes: I've had to do 3 school projects, read ****Animal Farm**** through twice (and I really hate that book), clean my room, help clean my house, try to understand geometry (with a really super confusing book-though admittedly I do have a good teacher) and make sure my life is still running smoothly. **

**Anyways, I've also had a huge debate with myself and my friends on what I should do with Seth, cause as I go forward in my head, Seth always manages to screw things up. He WILL NOT end up with Jez at the end of this story, so don't wait up for it. Originally, I had planned to make Chapter 4 (She's Coming) longer, but I like where I ended it. Also, I'm tweaking the Jacob/Renesmee relationship, though it's very subtle. Sometimes my writing style changes, so be prepared for that at any point (including now) in any story. I'm boring you, so I think I'll go.**

**As always, enjoy  
-Starlight1746**

Everyone stares at Alice, as though willing for her vision to change, but I know that she's coming, so I say, "Carlisle, Edward, do you guys have any friends close by, any friends who can be here by about midnight?"

Surprisingly, it's Jacob who answers, "There's a clan in Denali who might be willing to help us, they can be here in an hour or two, I think-"

"But will they be willing to help us, after what happened to Irina?" Bella asked Edward. I didn't need to ask about that; when I had visited Volterra it was fresh on everyone's mind.

"I'll call them." Carlisle said and ran upstairs.

Just then Jasper's phone buzzed in his pocket. He answered it, but before I could even dip into his mind, Alice smiled broadly. I turned my attention to her thoughts

_Peter and Charlotte, their some of Jasper's friends and they're nearby! _She thought at me.

As though on cue, Jasper hangs up his phone and says, "Peter and Charlotte are on their way, they'll be here in an hour. Alice, can you see Tanya's decision?"

Before Alice can respond to him, Carlisle comes back downstairs and says, "They said yes, they'll help us."

* * *

"Hello, Carlisle, it is nice to see you once more." A beautiful strawberry blonde vampire greeted us.

"Hello, Tanya, how're you?" He said pleasantly.

"We are… fine" Her voice, I noted, was slightly pained.

"Allow me to introduce you, this is Jez. Jez this is Tanya, Kate, Carman, Eleazar, and Garrett." Each of the said vampires nodded when Carlisle said they're name. "She warned us of the upcoming danger."

"I just cannot believe that any vampire could be crazy enough to _take over_ the Volturi. Destroying it is one thing, but attempting to replace it is just very, very bold." The one called Eleazar said, holding Carman tightly in his arms.

"Yes," I said, "But I know Maria, and she is both crazy and bold, not to mention her being extremely power hungry. She once tried to become the ruler of the South." All the vampires around the room shook their heads disapprovingly.

Jacob (Leah had left about an hour and a half ago) stood and said to them, "This Maria hasn't heard of the wolves, and we've reason to believe she's only traveling with two or three Newborns."

The one called Kate chimed in, "Can't you see, Alice, can't you give us a sure idea?"

"No, no I'm sorry Kate. She knows how my visions work, though I dunno why cause Jazz hasn't had any contact with her, and she keeps debating whether or not to come when she gets here, or to send more Newborns to us, or to do whatever, but I can't get a good enough glimpse at her actual plan. So we've decided we're better safe than sorry."

Peter (he and Charlotte had arrived about an hour ago)-who was standing in the shadows of the room-shifted a bit and said, "Where will we be going?"

"We're going south a bit, down to Portland, where she has an hour long layaway. I'll be laying my scent all around and lead them to a forest, because I'm hoping she'll try and hunt there. Actually, we should get going now. Jacob, could you please tell the other wolves to meet us there?" Jacob nodded and left; I heard his breathing shift from human to animal.

* * *

We arrived five minutes before the wolves. Bella had stayed home with Renesmee, as neither of them really wanted to meet Maria. Alice was sitting cross-legged on the ground beside us, her eyes closed and concentration written all over her face. Jasper was standing over her, taking in even the most subtle of mood changes. The wolves were circling us-all of Jacob's pack had come, save Seth, as did four from Sam's (including Sam) pack-and then all of a sudden, Alice was on her feet, staring to the North, where the airport was.

Two vampires-a girl with long, strait brunette hair of around fourteen and a curly haired blonde boy of about eighteen-came walking into our view, taking their time. Maria was nowhere in sight and one peep into the girl's thoughts told me that she had gotten off of a plane in Nevada. Edward growled, and Carlisle looked inquiringly from him to me to the new vampires.

They stopped several meters from the outside of the wolves' circle and the girl spoke in a high pitched, girly voice that sounded extremely pleased. "We seek out Jasper Whitlock-or Cullen, as he's now known."

Jasper faced her and said, "I'm Jasper."

The girl smiled. "Hello Jasper, Maria sends her regards, and her apologies that she could not be here. My name is Celeste, this is Jimson. Is it possible that we may approach, this line of… animals is annoying us." The wolves had stopped circling and stopped to form a line.

Jacob barked and the groups made a gap large enough for the two to pass through, though it was still small enough for any one of them to jump and attack them. Celeste and Jimson came close to us and sat down-cross legged-directly in front of Jasper. His family, the Denali, and Peter and Charlotte made a half circle next to him: Alice on his immediate right, Edward on the left; the wolves closed up the circle, making Celeste and Jimson the center. I went and stood behind Jasper.

The smallest of frowns appeared on Celeste's smooth face, but she covered it up by saying, "Well, Maria is forming a plan-no, a _revolution_-to help all vampire-kind. She requires your service, along with the service of several others whose help she is enlisting. She is having a council in Austin next week, and would like your presence there." She meant: _We're making you come with us one way or another, but if you come nicely, Maria will reward us._

"What if I don't want to leave my family? What if I want to stay with them?" Jasper asked.

_We had this planned._ "Maria welcomes any family of yours, Jasper, or anyone you'd like to bring, the Cullens especially."

I could hear that Celeste was thinking of a way to fight off all of us at once, but still make Jasper come with her. Jimson was speculating how to destroy the wolves. Jasper was measuring their emotions. Finally, Carlisle-who was on the far left of the vampires, right next to Jacob-broke the silence.

"My apologies, Celeste," he said, "but I'm sure that Jasper does not wish to come with you. I think we are all perfectly happy here. Though I'm sure that others-"

"Nobody asked you, Cullen!" Celeste interrupted, and then he was on the ground, agony on his face. I peeped into her mind: she had the power to bring forward any memory-even though she could not see it-that inflicted whatever emotion or feeling she wanted. Currently, she was making him remember the feeling of changing into a vampire

I carefully entered her mind and had her decide to stop. Carlisle breathed deeply as he sat back up. I thought at Edward: _Why'd you make Bella stay home!_

He scowled and the bloke called Jimson spoke for the first time, his voice was hoarse and gravely.

"Jasper, Maria says you're an important asset in helping us. She says with your skill we're sure to win this fight." Jacob growled menacingly at Jimson, who turned to him, and Jacob promptly fainted. He could knock consciousness out of mortals, and create obliviousness in immortals (he disabled brainwaves for a period of time, though without actually killing anyone). Leah lunged at him; she passed out as well. Before anyone could do anything else, Celeste put a cautioning hand on Jimson's shoulder, and they stared meaningfully at Jasper, who collapsed under both their powers. I could hear his thoughts and he was lost in a memory of extreme grief and heplessness, and with Jimson's power weighing down his thoughts, he was helpless against them. But each of them could only concentrate on one person at once, and that was good.

Alice had already sprung up, and she lunged herself at Celeste, who had to drop her attack for a moment to dodge Alice. In that same second, Embry was on top of Jimson, and Jasper got to his feet, though quite slowly (as far as us vampires go). Esme ran over to Alice and helped her tackle Celeste to the ground, but at that moment Carlisle-even though she had aimed for Peter-doubled over in laughter (um, hello! Why is she making him _laugh_?). Esme delivered a particularly painful blow to Celeste's shoulder, and she stopped her attack at once. Jacob and Leah were waking up, and before Jimson could re-attack them, Quil knocked him to the ground.

For a moment-just the smallest fraction of a second-I heard Celeste think something she really wasn't supposed to: _I don't want to die, but if I have to, I will. Hah! Maria, you are the smartest person. If they kill us, you'll have all the reason in the world to kill them. Or to make them join you!_

"STOP!" Edward and I said at the same moment. Everyone-even the struggling Celeste and Jimson-froze and turned to look at us.

"Stop! Maria planned this! She _expected_ them to fail! She wants to be able to bribe us! To give us the ultimatum: you killed two of my best recruits, so you can either join me or I can kill you. She's planned it all out!" The words rushed out of my mouth as quickly as I could make them, because Leah's teeth were centimeters from Jimson's neck.

Carlisle turned to the two once-again-struggling vampires and said, "We suggest you go back to Maria, and tell her that Jasper-nor any of the other Cullens-will be joining her in her revolution, and that if she calls for us again _we_ will call for the Volturi."

They stood after being let up, but before they turned, Alice let out a shock, and then five more vampires appeared from the woods around us. Quickly, I searched each of their brains and learned the talents: a big red-headed man (about twenty) was able to disable the equilibrium; a small, blonde (about eight or nine years) could make you unable to control limbs; a black boy with dreadlocks of about thirteen could make you see your biggest fear, though only one person at a time; a woman around thirty could make you feel paranoid; and a man of around forty could throw off a trail (something completely useless in battle).

But, just then, Bella came running out of the forest behind us, Renesmee on her back. She muttered to Edward, "I've been on your trail for a while" Edward smiled and then, all of a sudden, Celeste lunged forward at Jasper, who carefully ducked and she flew over him. Jimson aimed one of his attacks at Carlisle, but for whatever reason, he couldn't quite find him. And then it hit me: Bella had us all in her shield.

Tanya lunged for the little girl, and she attempted to make Tanya's legs fail, but her attack didn't work, and the little girl was on the ground, struggling to get up.

I said, once again, "Don't kill them" then lunged for the boy with the dreadlocks. He tried to create his little fear thing, but he too failed and was on the ground. He thought about his odds of pushing me off, and I quickly changed his mind to speculating how to get away. I stood up, and he ran south, away from us, at top speed. Celeste tried to shout for him, but Rosalie ran over and slammed her face into the ground. The oldest-looking vampire there (the guy with the useless power) attempted to attack Peter, who punched him under the jaw, and Charlotte jumped onto his back. Edward was protecting Bella from the rest of the vampires, helped by the rest of the Denalis, and his family (Renesmee is still on Bella's back).

Then, out of the blue, a figure jumped down from the sky.

"I'm disappointed in you, Celeste. I expected you on a plane an hour ago." Maria said, her Spanish accent shaded with distaste.


	6. Chapter 6: Avalon

**OK, so, I'm updating this one again, cause I'm in a very "Twilight Mood" today. This chapter asks a few new question, which I will point out at the end of this page (DON'T SKIP TO THE END, JUST TO HEAR/READ THE QUESTIONS). Just do me a favor, though, and tell people you know about my story. Ok, so, I'd like to thank ****Banks Inc.**** for telling my about Jasper's last name. During the first chapter, I had told all of you that the only character I owned was Jez; that is a complete lie. All of Maria's Newborns are of my own creation, and there might be one or two OC's here and there. Here is the story:**

Under the distraction of Maria, Celeste and Jimson threw off the vampires attacking them, and stood at Maria's side (Celeste was on the right)

"I'm sorry, Maria, we tried, they are being quite stubborn." Celeste muttered; Maria's scowl deepened.

"It is not your fault, I expected trouble from Jasper, that's why I sent along some other recruits." Maria turned to Jasper, "Jasper, I need you, I need your help. The Volturi like killing vampires for fun, they need to be stopped. We need to end their rein of power, Jasper, I'm sure you understand that. Please, just help me." Then she snapped her fingers, and the other four vampires stood and turned their attention to Maria. "Where is Hendrick?" she asked frowning.

Jimson turned his head south, following the scent. Maria let out a few Spanish curse words before she was interrupted by the appearance of a tall, blonde vampire. Before I had time to dip into her mind, however, she pointed her finger at an unmarked spot in the ground, and a huge explosion sent us in different directions.

Of course, it didn't do us any harm, but when I got back to the clearing, I saw Alice was hunched over, holding her chest, and one look into her mind told me that in those precious few seconds we were scattered, Maria had managed to escape, taking Jasper with her.

By now the rest of our little "family" had assembled, and Carlisle asked, "What's happened?"

I answered him, "She had had a helicopter overhead, waiting for her. She had that last girl use her power to separate us, and then she made off with Jasper. I-she's searching for that guy called Hendrick, and then she's going to go to that conference or whatever in wherever. She has a vampire there that can make you do what she wants."

"We'll have to intercept her." Carlisle said at once.

Edward shook his head. "We can't, she'll be ready for us. Besides, even as fast as we can get tickets, she'll be long gone; probably on her way to the next vampire friend of hers'."

I turned to Carlisle. "I've known Maria for quite a long time. Actually, I knew the vampire who created her. I was there when it happened; I was in the room during the time she transformed. She took longer than normal, over six days. Something probably went wrong in her brain, that's my best guess. Anyways, she killed her creator right when she woke up, and probably would have killed me too, but I reminded her of her thirst, and she had to go and feed. I was gone-swam through a canal to get rid of my scent-before she had even found her first target."

Bella stared before finally saying, "And what does this have to do with anything?"

"She's wanted to kill me several times. It was flitting through her mind a few minutes ago, as Edward could easily confirm for you, but she didn't, and you have to trust me on this, it would have been easy, what with that girl. No, I'm sure she needs something from me, something so important that she's keeping me alive." I explained.

"We have got to find this girl," Rosalie said, looking positively dangerous, "she's got to be stopped, and we can't do it alone. As much as I hate to say it, the Volturi are really our best bet."

Carlisle shook his head vigorously. "No, Rosalie you know well that we can't do that. I'm not saying that the Volturi _shouldn't_ be involved, but it can't be us to tip them off. It'd be too fishy, especially considering that one of our own is in the group fighting them. No, we can't have that. They'll probably just kill them all without thinking twice about anything." Rosalie scowled, but I heard her consent to what Carlisle said.

Alice had her eyes closed, and I saw a vision, probably important, so I focused in: _A vampire girl was standing alone in the center of a circular room in the castle in Volterra. A door squeaked open_ (I couldn't help but note that doors usually didn't squeak there) _and heels were heard. Jane walked into view, a coy smile on her face. She looked at the vampire and said, "You are in trouble, be readied to be counseled by the council of the Volturi. Rise for the entry of Aro, Caius, and Marcus." The girl did not rise; she didn't even raise her head. She gave no motion to say she had even heard Jane. Jane glared at her; as she fell over, Jane said, a little louder than needed, "I said rise, you!" When Jane stopped, the girl sprang up. Her eyes were black, so it clear she was week._

The vision stopped, and Edward, Alice, and I frowned as one.

"Who was she? She seems so familiar." Edward muttered.

"Who, son?" Carlisle asked.

Alice opened her eyes answered. "Some girl, she was alone in one of the rooms in Volterra, Jane was there, and Aro and Caius and Marcus were about to come in. She was thirsty, and she looked extremely week. Jane said she was in trouble, and that she was about to be counseled for something." She shrugged, then focused once again.

A moment later Edward exclaimed, "I know who she is! I've seen her in Jasper's memories several times. Maria had tried to have him murdered once, but she got away. The name's Avalon. She had the ability to… she basically can drain strength by touching a person and then either use it for herself or transfer it to someone else. Like, if she had managed to get her hands on Jane, Jane's thirst would have greatened, and she would have been weakened, and Avalon would have gotten her power back.

Alice opened her eyes again. "She's _seeking out_ the Volturi! She's going to her own death! She wants to tip them off about Maria! We can get to her. C'mon! We have to go! She could be important!" And without another word, Alice dashed into the airport.

**Ok, so I promised I'd point out a few important questions, and here they are:**

**1) Will Alice be able to find Jasper?  
2) Who is this Avalon chick, and why is she so important?  
3) Will Alice's vision come true? If it does, will Avalon be tortured again (probably) or even killed?  
4) What other vampires does Maria have in store for us?**

**Ok, so if you review (please do!), I'd really like to hear your opinions. Also, if you come up with a really good power for some of Maria's vampires, please PLEASE tell me.**


	7. Chapter 7: Volterra

**Hello once again. As I said to one of the reviewers, who Avalon is will not be revealed until the chapter after this one. In this chapter, more questions will be asked (and I'll put the ones from the last chapter in too) and-sorry bout this-only one (extremely unimportant) will be answered. Each chapter will at least ask one more question, and I'll add the answer for those who are befuddled (or want it cleared up). For now, enjoy…  
-Starlight1746**

We-that is to say me, Alice, Edward, and Bella-managed to get on the first plane to Italy. The rest of the Cullens (and Peter and Charlotte and the Denali) were stuck in Portland for another two hours, by which time-according to Alice-it would be too late. According to Carlisle, we were the most important people to go on the first flight, because of our Gifts. Jacob was taking Renesmee home to Forks with the other wolves; we don't want them to come to Italy, it'd be too dangerous.

Carlisle had told Edward and I to scan everyone's mind-no matter if it was only a mere passerby-to make sure Maria wasn't tailing us. Of course, there hadn't been many people at the airport (it was-what?-like three in the morning when we left) so it hadn't been that hard. No one had been suspicious, and we all were pretending to be asleep.

Alice's eyes suddenly flickered open and I dipped into her mind: _The same girl-Avalon-was running down the streets of Volterra; it was definitely daytime, but the sun was behind some clouds, and then the clock tower chimed three o'clock. She was in the thicket of people, so vampire speed wasn't an option. She knew not to hunt in the city, but she was thirsty, and so she was not breathing. Every now and then, she would accidently brush against someone, and take a bit of their energy for herself, but she had to be careful; a mortal dropping unconscious next to her would be quite bad. She finally caught sight of the large castle of the Volturi, and quickly ran into the ornately carved, dark cherry door. The door swung open, right after her first knock, by Alec, his sister, Jane, flanking his left arm. Jane stared at her, and she fell onto the floor in agony. Alec put a cautioning hand on her, and the attack ceased. Alec grabbed the still-panting Avalon by her shirt, and the door slammed shut._

The vision ended, and the three of us who had seen the vision looked up at the exact same moment; Bella's head sprung up a second later.

"So we have until three o'clock today… Hopefully we can get into the palace by then…" murmured Edward, deep in thought.

"Hopefully, if she doesn't get there quicker than that." Alice said.

"Doubtful; did you feel the certainty in that vision? It will definitely happen." I argued. Bella's brow furrowed, and Edward swiftly filled her in on what she had missed.

"We'll have to get there as soon as we can. Alice, will it be easier, since it's not St. Marcus day?" she asked. _Well, duh! There won't be a thousand tourists!_ I thought, but Edward threw me a glare.

Alice nodded and the captain came onto the announcements, waking up the sleeping passengers by saying that we would be landing soon.

We landed in Florence, and ran the rest of the way (it was faster than the traffic that would stir in about an hour) and we arrived at the gates of the city at about eleven o'clock. Alice closed her eyes for a moment then said, "c'mon" before I could get a proper look into the vision. As it was almost noon, we went into a store and nicked some long-sleeved, hooded, long pants' outfits (for Alice, Bella, and Edward, as I was already wearing some)-we left money, of course-then managed to find the palace by two o'clock, by which time the clouds had completely hidden the sun. The only problem now was finding which entrance Avalon had used, as they all looked the same.

About two seconds after three o'clock rang, I heard the knock on the door, the gasp of pain, and then I heard the door swinging shut. I rushed over, but I only saw a sweep of an almost-black cloak before the door clicked shut.

Edward and Bella ran over, Alice on their tail. "What happened, Jez?" Bella asked.

"They _just_ went in, like, half a second before I got here." I told them.

_We have to go in, Edward. The same way as before._ Alice thought.

_No, no, we can't go there, Edward, it's blocked._ I thought.

"Are you sure, Jez?" I nodded.

Just then, the door sprung open and Jane stood in the doorway. _Gah, I thought I heard conversing out here. This is sooo dumb._ She thought as she stared at us. Edward let out a low growl as Jane smiled serenely. She aimed an attack at Edward, but I suppose Bella had us shielded, as it didn't do anything.

"Jane, what are you doing out here?" A voice said from down a corridor.

"Hello, Demitri, I just found these goggling outside our door." Jane answered as the large form of Demitri slid into view. He smiled menacingly, but he knew we could take him in a fight.

"Well, come in, don't just stand around." He said.

Alice stepped in first, though she was concentrating on finding out where they put Avalon to pay too much attention to anything else. Bella followed her in immediately, then Edward. I walked in behind him and heard the door shut as Jane and Demitri followed. Edward was memorizing the pathways we took, but he didn't need to, as I knew the paths well (I had served the Volturi a little while back for about a decade).

I dipped into Jane's mind, and found the conversation from several minutes ago.

"_Please, Jane, Alec," Avalon said. Her voice was high _(not unlike Renesmee's, I had to note) _and pleading; Alec gave no indication that he'd heard her, but I felt a flicker of annoyance run through me: she knew our names, what else did she know? We knew, of course, not to touch her, and Alec kept a firm hand on her shoulder, which was covered by a shirt._

"_Please, stop for a moment!" She continued, "Please, this is urgent, it's very important! I need you to stop! Please!" She made to grab for my brother's arm, but he let go of her shoulder and flinched away from her. She turned around to me, and I let her writhe on the floor for a few seconds. Alec went and stood her up, and marched her up one of the staircases._

"_I'll take her to the empty room on the second floor, you know, the_ V_iew_ing _Room for _extra_ humans; it should be empty right about now, right?" Alec inquired. I nodded, then heard voices back along the hallway. Ugh, Cullens._

I retreated from her mind and thought to Edward, _I know where that is, we just have to ditch Jane._ He gave a small nod, and said, perfectly pleasant, "Jane, we need to talk to Aro, as soon as he's available, if that's ok."

She narrowed her eyes at him, then, seeing her attack fail once more, said, "He has an important order of business to attend to first. Jez, if you could, go and show them to the waiting room." Hmm, she still regarded me as one of their own; that's good. Demitri ran after her.

I nodded then, once she was out of earshot, I said, "C'mon, I know where Avalon was taken." We ran up to the third floor, then promptly found the balcony that was over the room.

"… to be counseled by the council of the Volturi. Rise for the entry of Aro, Caius, and Marcus." Jane was saying. Avalon did not rise; she didn't even raise her head. She gave no motion to say she had even heard Jane. Jane glared at her; as she fell over, Jane said, a little louder than needed, "I said rise, you!" When Jane stopped, Avalon sprang up, and the door creaked open once more. Aro, Caius, and Marcus came striding into the room, looking at Avalon.

Aro didn't dare try and gather her thoughts, as touching her would result in the loss of all his energy. Caius walked up to her and looked down at her (she had collapsed the second they walked in) as though she was something disgusting. She made a feeble attempt to grab at him, but he kicked her with the toe of his boot and she fell back to the ground.

Marcus did nothing but stand there, looking utterly bored (as usual). Caius was about to say something to Demitri (who just walked in) when Edward jumped down off of the balcony, shouting "NO!" along the way. Everyone-Avalon included-looked up. Alice's eyes widened and Bella followed him down.

"Oh look what we have here!" Aro exclaimed, "Edward, and Bella!" He looked up. "And"-he gasped dramatically-"Jez, and Alice! Marvelous, come down here!" We had no choice but to jump down beside them.

I bowed my head solemnly and said, "Please, Aro, spare her. She meant you know harm, she only wished to come here and talk with you. I'd be prepared to vouch for her." Aro, Caius and Marcus made a huddle, and Demitri and Jane kept their eyes on Avalon.

A moment later, they broke apart, and Aro said, "Well… I suppose she has done no harm as of yet. We assumed that she came here to gather her strengths and relay it to others. Well, if you're prepared to vouch… as long as she does nothing wrong… you may all leave." Jane shot us all looks of disdain before storming out. Aro sighed and followed her, Caius and Marcus on his tail. Demitri smiled roguishly at us before leaving as well. Avalon looked up at us, her eyes black as night, and her body frail and weak. She moaned, "please help me" before closing her eyes and hugging herself on the ground.

**Well, I hope that helped. **

**Naw, I'm kidding, I know it did nothing for you. So, here are the questions once more (Underlined means the answer as of finishing the chapter, Italicized means a new question):**

**1) Will Alice be able to find Jasper? ****Sorry, not yet.****  
2) Who is this Avalon chick, and why is she so important? ****Well, it's clear that Avalon is a vamp who drains other's energy and, as of now, is really weak.****  
3) Will Alice's vision come true? If it does, will Avalon be tortured again (probably) or even killed? ****Yeah, Alice's vision came true (both of the ones pertaining to Avalon, actually) and she was tortured again, but not killed-well, not yet she hasn't been.****  
4) What other vampires does Maria have in store for us? ****We have no clue yet, now do we?  
**_**5) What has Avalon done to make the Volturi know so much about her, and be mad at her?**_


	8. AN

**Hello one and all. Yes, I know, I hate seeing a new chapter and it really just being an A/N. But I'm sorry to say, this story will no longer be updated in this incarnation. I am not going to delete it off of this website; however, it will no longer be updated here at this link address. I will be revising, rewriting, reposting, and then finishing some the remaining stories while entertaining new ideas. I can't promise fast updates, and I can't promise any consistent rate, but I can assure you that if you want to stick with my stories, they will all eventually be finished. If you have any questions, please feel free to message me. Also, I am looking for beta readers for almost everything remaining. This includes helping me with brainstorming ideas, fixing grammar and spelling typos that I may overlook, and just overall improving what I might be posting. Thank you for your patience, and I'm sorry.  
****-mytholoy1746 {formerly Starlight1746}**


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